


From the Seashore

by cybermanolo, pink_nymphia



Category: Saiyuki
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Marine Biologist, Mermaids, merfolk, mermaid au, shark attacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-08
Updated: 2017-09-08
Packaged: 2018-12-25 12:04:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12035517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cybermanolo/pseuds/cybermanolo, https://archiveofourown.org/users/pink_nymphia/pseuds/pink_nymphia
Summary: Sanzo is a marine biologist who goes to the shore just to collect samples, but comes back with an injured creature that calls itself “merfolk”. He takes the creature, named Goku, back to his house but he has no idea how to proceed with the bizarre situation that he’s found himself in.





	From the Seashore

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the 2017 Saiyuki BigBang! This was my first time participating in a BigBang event and I had a lot of fun! :) I hope that everyone enjoys the story! 
> 
> Also, I definitely want to give big thank you's to [cybermanolo](http://cybermanolo.tumblr.com/) and [mtblackbearfic](http://mtblackbearfic.tumblr.com/)!
> 
> Cybermanolo created a beautiful piece of art that can be found [here](http://cybermanolo.tumblr.com/post/165152915731/my-half-of-the-saiyuki-big-bang-with-ladyrosalee)!
> 
> & Mtblackbearfic was my wonderful beta who was super helpful and I appreciate so much!
> 
> Thank you so much guys! :D <3

 

-

 

Sanzo was on his way to a nearby beach for work. The beach was small and not designed for beachgoers. That’s not to say they never came, but it was infrequent even in the warmer months. Plus, it was currently mid-March so the man wasn’t concerned with that. It was a beach shore a short drive from the aquarium where he worked and he just needed to collect some samples for a routine study on the nearby ocean water. That’s all that he _needed_ to do, but he quickly found that his plans were being re-written.

 

From where he stood, he could see a lump on the shore. It wasn’t even far enough out of the water to avoid the tide from hitting it, but it stayed completely still. It looked like some sort of seal and Sanzo sighed. He was aware that there were a fair amount of sharks in the ocean here (another reason why there weren’t a lot of beachgoers) so it had probably been attacked. It was only a question of whether it is lying there bleeding out or if it was already dead. He approached it, expecting the worst, but not expecting to find that it wasn’t a seal. Or not… _exactly_ a seal, at least. The tail was definitely a seal tail –it looked like that of a harbor seal- and that continued up until right around where its waist would be. And then after that it looked… human?

 

Sanzo widened his eyes in surprise, but then found himself narrowing them once more. The thought that this was some kind of prank crossed his mind –though he had no idea what kind of prank this would be or why they would do it. Deciding against considering the fact that “mermaids” could actually exist, he simply squatted down beside the lump and carefully reached to touch it. At the first contact, the lump suddenly came to life. It tensed and quickly turned its body around. Immediately, Sanzo saw that it wasn’t just a human-looking back, but a very much human upper body complete with a head, face and hair that wouldn’t look out of place in a crowd of people. Though the creature’s almost golden eyes were a bit startling.

 

And, frankly, right now they looked startled themselves. The creature started to open his mouth to speak, but nothing more than a soft whine came out. Sanzo wasn’t sure if it was speechless or just unable to speak. The man let out a sigh.

 

“Look,” he started, “I’m not attacking you or anything. I just thought you were some marine life that was…” His eyes traveled down and noticed the blood smeared all over the creature’s lower body. “…injured.”

 

He sighed again and was halfway through his thought of what to do next when the creature suddenly grabbed his wrist with a force he wouldn’t have expected from an injured creature. Caught off guard, the man tried pulling free from the grip, but was shocked when the grip only tightened. Cold, webbed hands squeezed tightly until they finally, abruptly let go. Once free, Sanzo immediately pulled his arm out of the creature’s range. “The hell was that for!?” he said, not actually expecting an answer.

 

The creature looked up at him with a small smile, “Sorry, I just wanted to speak to ya.”

 

Sanzo stared for a moment, slowly narrowing his eyes further and further. “So you _can_ speak. Why did you feel the need to grab my wrist?”

 

“To speak!” the creature said as though that explanation made perfect sense. “I couldn’t understand you before so I needed to get your language in my head.”

 

“Right.” Sanzo grimaced, wondering what on earth he had gotten himself involved with. The creature just smiled, not detecting the skepticism in the man’s tone. “Look, you, I really have no idea _what_ you are. I just came over here because I thought you were some injured marine life. Though, I guess that’s still technically accurate.”

 

Hurt flashed through the creature’s eyes for a brief second, though Sanzo wasn’t sure the reason. It looked down at its tail and flopped it idly, pouting. “I’m merfolk too… Just a different kind, s’all.”

 

Sanzo, who had no idea mermaids –or rather, “merfolk”- even existed until mere minutes ago, didn’t know what to say to that. He figured that he must have offended the creature somehow, going by the way it was acting. He sighed. “ _Look_ , what I’m saying is, I have no idea what a ‘merfolk’ or whatever is. I’ve never seen one before.”

 

That seemed to have been the right thing to say because the creature stopped pouting and looked up, tilting its head in question, “You don’t know merfolk?”

 

“No. There are stories and shit about you, but I figured they were all just made up.”

 

“I’m real.”

 

“I can see that _now_ , dumbass.”

 

The creature just smiled, unfazed. “So I’m the first merfolk you’ve met?”

 

“That was established, yeah.”

 

“That’s exciting! You’re the first land mammal I’ve met too!”

 

“Okay, but don’t call me a land mammal, it’s weird. I’m human –we’re called humans.”

 

“Human…” the creature repeated to itself, testing the word on its tongue.

 

“Yeah, human. And humans don’t know about you merfolk so it would probably be better not to go around and try to meet more of us, okay? For your own safety. People might freak out or something.”

 

“Safety…” it repeated, looking down at its injury again.

 

 _Right_ , Sanzo thought. He figured that should probably be taken care of sooner rather than later. “Was that a shark that did that to you?” he asked.

 

The creature looked up in surprise, “How’d you know?”

 

“Lucky guess.” Sanzo figured it went without saying that the ones most at risk of being mistaken for seals were creatures that were literally half seal. “It doesn’t look too serious, you must have gotten away fast enough, but going back into the ocean with that probably isn’t a good idea.” He sighed, hoping he wouldn’t regret his decision to help. “I don’t have any tools to help nor am I a qualified vet, but if you wanted, I could take you back to my house and try to get you fixed up.”

 

The creature blinked up at him, this time just at a loss for words. “You… you’d do that?”

 

“Well, just leaving you here would probably be as good as killing you so, as long as you _behave_ , I could do that.”

 

-

 

And so he did.

 

Sanzo wasn’t sure why he was bothering with this, even when he knew it was going to be nothing but trouble. Maybe it was because he felt it was his job as a marine biologist. Or maybe it was that he’d feel guilty just walking away and leaving the creature to die. Either way, he decided to go through with it and that’s why his backseat was now occupied with an actual ‘mermaid’ - a talkative one, at that. He was surprised that the creature –‘Goku’ was his name, apparently- had so much energy considering he was injured. Yeah, he knew this was definitely going to be nothing but trouble.

 

Goku weighed more than he expected. It was probably more than fourteen-year old (Sanzo was guessing on his age) would weigh, but thankfully still less than an actual harbor seal. Sanzo wrapped him up in the biggest towel he had stored in his car and quickly carried him into his house. He was glad that the sun had already set. The last thing he needed were nosy neighbors catching a glimpse of him.

 

He carried the merman to his larger bathroom and carefully placed the heavy bundle on the floor. He dug into the small closet and pulled out a stack of towels to cover the floor with.

 

“This is your home?” Goku asked in amazement.

 

“Yeah,” Sanzo answered simply. The merman looked impressed to say the least. He was trying to examine every corner of the room from his spot on the floor. Sanzo briefly wondered what type of place his “guest” called home, but filed his questions away for later. Right now, he just wanted to get the wound taken care of. “Roll on your back.”

 

Goku blinked, but complied without question. A twitch of a smile appeared on the man’s face as he watched the creature roll easily, not unlike a seal. He carefully cleaned all of the blood off and examined the wound itself. He was right that it wasn’t too serious, but he figured that it might be good to have someone who was actually trained as a veterinarian to take a look.

 

He wasn’t about to take him down to the aquarium, but, fortunately, he had a marine vet acquaintance of his that he trusted. He told Goku to stay put as he left the bathroom to make the phone call. It would be too much of a pain to have to explain the whole truth over the phone (including having Hakkai doubt his insistence that there was an actual merman in his bathroom) so he vaguely told him he needed help with an injured seal he found and brought back to his house. He supposed he wasn’t technically lying. He also asked if he could bring some fish for it to eat. Hakkai’s boyfriend, Gojyo, caught fish for the aquarium animals as his job so he figured that it wasn’t a tall order to ask.

 

When he returned to the bathroom, Goku was looking up at him with a curious expression.

 

“What?” Sanzo said, raising an eyebrow.

 

“Who were you talkin’ to?” he asked, genuinely curious.

 

“Acquaintance of mine. I called them to come over because they might be able to help.”

 

“Where are they?” he asked, moving slightly as if trying to see if they were standing outside the door.

 

“Not here yet. It’ll probably be awhile until they get here.”

 

Goku looked confused, his brows furrowed as he spoke, “But you were just talkin’ to them.”

 

“Over the phone. I was talking to them over the phone.” He held up his cell phone for clarification. “This lets me talk to them even when they are far away.”

 

He swore Goku’s eyes sparkled. “That’s so cool! Humans have magic!”

 

“It’s not magic, it’s just technology that we built.” He rolled his eyes, but he would be lying if he said he wasn’t a bit amused at the other’s excitement.

 

The merman extended his webbed hands up in the air towards the cellphone, a big smile on his face. “Lemme see, I wanna see!”

 

“No,” Sanzo said bluntly. But he was amused again as he saw the creature pout out of the corner of his eye.

 

-

 

Sanzo heated up some leftovers for himself and ate in the bathroom as they waited for the others to arrive. Goku watched him –or rather, the plate of food he was holding- with an intense stare.

 

“It’s not for you,” he finally said. Goku sunk down against the floor sheepishly.

 

“…m’hungry though,” he sulked.

 

“Too bad. I don’t have any food for you.”

 

“What are you eating?”

 

“It’s chicken.”

 

“Chicken?” the merman parroted.

 

“Yeah,” he answered, not looking up at the other. “It’s a bird.”

 

“Sanzo is incredible…” he whispered under his breath.

 

The man debated correcting him that he did not, in fact, catch the bird himself (nor do chickens even fly), but then he heard his doorbell ring so his attention was redirected to that instead. And to the fact that the soft chime seemed to spook the seal. Goku immediately ducked under one of the towels. He successfully hid his head, but his chubby tail was still in plain sight. Sanzo just shook his head, wondering how he could be so human, but also very much an animal at the same time.

 

“You don’t need to freak out,” he finally said. He watched as Goku peeked his head out from under the edge of the towel. “It’s called a doorbell. It’s how people let me know when they are here. It’s more technology, like the phone I showed you earlier.”

 

“Okay,” he said softly, still partially hiding under the towel. Sanzo could tell he was still uneasy.

 

“You nervous all of a sudden about meeting more humans? You didn’t seem so scared when I mentioned them earlier.”

 

“I can’t move well,” Goku admitted, fixing his gaze onto the floor in front of him. “I tried to move around the room when you left to get food and I can’t move well… It’s hard.”

 

Sanzo frowned and let out a soft sigh. “Your body wasn’t made for land so you’re going to have trouble moving around. But you’re fine, you don’t need to worry about being able to run away. These acquaintances of mine are idiots, but they’re not going to try to hurt you.”

 

“Okay,” he finally said, looking back up at Sanzo.

 

The man couldn’t help but to be worried about how trusting the creature was.

 

He left the room just as the doorbell rung for the second time. He opened the door and wordlessly gestured for them to come inside. Hakkai smiled as he walked inside carrying his bag of medical supplies, but Gojyo just looked annoyed as he carried in a bucket filled with silver fish.

 

“What? No ‘hello’, no ‘thank you so much for coming all the way over here to help’?” Gojyo asked, raising an eyebrow. Sanzo ignored him.

 

“So where is it?” Hakkai asked patiently.

 

“In my bathroom,” Sanzo answered. Then he paused briefly, unsure. “Before you go in, just know that this is not a normal case. Don’t freak out because you’re just going to end up freaking him out too.” Hakkai and Gojyo looked at each other in mild confusion, but agreed nonetheless. Sanzo led them to the bathroom and slowly opened the door. “Goku, we’re coming in.”

 

Sanzo didn’t bother turning around to see if the two were looking confused as to why he was talking to the “animal”, but instead just opened the door all the way and waited for the inevitable shock. It wasn’t a surprise to Sanzo that Gojyo was the one to speak first.

 

“Um, Sanzo, I don’t know if maybe you are a bit stressed out or if you are under the influence of something, but I’m pretty sure that’s, you know, a _person_ , not a-” But the rest of the man’s words vanished the moment his eyes must have traveled away from the creature’s face and instead to the tail flapping behind him.

 

“…Sanzo?” Hakkai asked, turning to him in hopes for some kind of explanation.

 

Sanzo just shrugged, “I don’t know much more than you do. Any questions you have, you’re going to have to ask him yourself. But I wanted to treat his injury before playing twenty questions with him.”

 

“Right,” Hakkai agreed, trying to snap himself out of his shock as he placed his bag onto the floor.

 

Goku’s gaze that was previously darting between the three people standing in front of him quickly locked onto the bag. He watched hesitantly as Hakkai placed it down and then knelt beside it digging through it, taking out various supplies.

 

Sanzo sighed as he watched Goku’s curiosity begin to turn to fear. He stepped between the seal and Hakkai and sat down on the floor. “Don’t freak out, he’s taking out things to use to help treat your injury. I told you he’s not going to try to hurt you, didn’t I?” Goku frowned, but nodded slowly. Sanzo turned back to Hakkai and continued, “It’s just the wound on his tail. I cleaned the blood off and the actual wound doesn’t look too bad, but I think that it’s worth taking a look at.”

 

“Okay, I’ll see what I can do,” Hakkai said. Then he scooted a bit closer and smiled at Goku warmly. “Hello there. My name is Hakkai, I’m a friend of Sanzo’s.”

 

“I’m Goku,” he said.

 

Hakkai’s eyes widened as the seal spoke for the first time, but he quickly recovered from his surprise and continued, “It’s nice to meet you, Goku. Can I take a look at your tail? I promise to be gentle.”

 

Goku paused for a second, nervous, but then gave a quick “okay” before turning so Hakkai had a better view of his wound. Judging by the look in Hakkai’s eyes, Sanzo could tell that the veterinarian was in total awe of the creature.

 

“Is no one else shocked that there’s an actual mermaid here? Like, an _actual mermaid_. Just me? Are you serious?” Gojyo finally exclaimed, either after recovering from his shock or waiting until Hakkai was finished introducing himself.

 

Hakkai chuckled. Goku, on the other hand, just looked puzzled. “What’s a mermaid?” the seal asked.

 

“What’s a-!?” Gojyo was flabbergasted for a moment before cutting himself off and making sure to keep himself from sounding too aggressive. “That’s _you_! I’m talking about you! _You’re_ a mermaid!”

 

Goku pouted and narrowed his eyes at the man. “M’not a mermaid! I’m merfolk!”

 

“Fine! ‘Merfolk’. Same difference,” Gojyo responded, rolling his eyes.

 

Hakkai just laughed again to himself. “Come on, Gojyo. Be polite.”

 

“Fine! But my point is that, why are neither of you shocked that there’s an actual merm-, _merfolk_ , whatever, here!?”

 

“We may not have thought they existed, but there’s a lot we don’t know about the ocean and what lives in it. It’s not like we could prove that they didn’t exist. Though don’t get me wrong, I’m surprised too, of course,” Hakkai answered, not looking up from his examination of the wound.

 

“You’re impossible,” Gojyo sighed. Then the taller man walked over and sat down next to everyone else. He stared at the seal, trying to take everything in, but the longer he stared the more uncomfortable Goku got.

 

“Stop starin’ at me!” he finally said, swatting his webbed hands in Gojyo’s direction.

 

This time Gojyo laughed. “Jeez! All right, all right! Man, you’re pretty feisty for a little sea critter.”

 

Goku looked like he wanted to be angry again, but he was conflicted as to whether or not he was insulted. He turned to Sanzo for help. Sanzo just sighed and turned to Hakkai.

 

“So how’s it look?”

 

“Your judgment was pretty spot on. The majority of the wound isn’t too deep, aside from a few small punctures where the shark’s teeth got a better grip. I think he’ll need some antibiotics and then we’ll just have to see how it starts to heal for the next few days or so,” Hakkai explained.

 

Sanzo looked down at Goku, whose attention had been grabbed by Gojyo once more, and frowned. “How long do you think it’ll take to heal?”

 

“At this point, I’m not really sure. But as long as the healing process starts without any issue, he should be fine swimming on his own again without waiting until it’s completely healed.”

 

“I see,” Sanzo said, but now another question was on his mind.

 

He had a feeling that Hakkai knew exactly what he was thinking because, after a pause, he just said, “We’ll see how he heals up and go from there.”

 

-

 

After Hakkai did some additional cleaning of the wound and put medicinal ointment on it, he dug through his bag for a bottle full of a bright orange liquid.

 

“Goku, this is medicine that I’m going to have you take. It probably won’t taste good, but it’s important, okay?” Then Hakkai turned to Sanzo. “I don’t keep an entire stock in my bag, so I have enough for the first dose and then tomorrow morning’s dose. I’ll pick up a larger supply of it at work tomorrow and bring it here afterwards. He’s going to need to take the necessary dose once in the morning and once at night for ten days.” He poured the medicine in a small plastic cup. “The bright side is that he can just drink it himself rather than us having to squirt it in his mouth like we do with the creatures we usually treat. This is much more efficient.”

 

Hakkai handed the merman the cup and Goku peered into it hesitantly. He took a few sniffs and scowled at the smell. He looked up at Hakkai and then over at Sanzo. “…It smells gross.”

 

Hakkai smiled sympathetically. “I know, but it’s going to make sure you stay healthy.”

 

“If you take it, you can get something good to eat afterwards,” Gojyo said. This got Goku’s attention. His head shot up and he stared at the man with wide eyes.

 

“You have food?” Goku asked eagerly. The liquid in the cup shook a bit as he flapped his tail against the floor in excitement.

 

Sanzo snorted at the display, trying not to smile. He couldn’t help but to think that he looked like an excited dog.

 

Gojyo laughed, “Yeah, I brought something for you. But you have to take that medicine first.”

 

Goku glared down at the cup like it had personally offended him. Sanzo wasn’t sure if it was a groan or a growl, but the seal made some kind of noise before finally deflating and closing his eyes. “Fine, I’ll take it.” There was a beat of silence until he opened his eyes again and looked up at Sanzo, looking a bit embarrassed. “Can you help me?”

 

Sanzo raised an eyebrow, but moved closer nonetheless. He took hold of the cup over top of Goku’s hands and guided it towards his mouth. He helped tilt the merman’s head a bit and kept his hold as Goku drank a sip of the medicine. He scrunched his nose and made a noise like a whimper after swallowing. Sanzo knew it was better not to drag it out though, so the next sip he encouraged him to take more. And then after a third sip, the cup was emptied.

 

Goku briefly stuck his tongue out and then leaned back down with his chin against the floor as he groaned at the taste.

 

Hakkai chuckled, “I don’t think anyone likes the taste of medicine. But it’s important to take it. You just have to take it for a little over a week though.”

 

Goku shot up, using his arms and hands as support to lean up higher. “I gotta take it again!?”

 

“Yup! Ten days of that stuff,” Gojyo teased. Sanzo was pretty sure that Goku had no idea how long a week or ten days were, but even being told he only had to take it one more time would probably warrant the same reaction.

 

Goku fell forward once more, with his chin on the ground and his arms stretched out in front of him, but then quickly poked his head up again. “Wait! Can I get th’ food now? You promised food!”

 

“Calm down, ya damn animal. Yeah, I brought you food. Hold on,” Gojyo said with a smile before standing up and walking out of the room. Sanzo hadn’t noticed Gojyo leaving the bucket of fish outside the bathroom, but was glad that the man did so. As soon as Gojyo was in sight again (or probably within the range that Goku could smell, Sanzo supposed), the seal began thumping his tail against the floor rapidly. Hakkai looked a bit concerned that he was going to end up aggravating his injury.

 

Goku was literally bouncing by the time Gojyo was inside the room. He was flapping his tail and trying to hold himself upright as much as he could, trying to be taller (and therefore closer to the bucket).

 

“Jeez, would you calm down for a second? You know I’m going to give it to you, just wait a second.” Gojyo looked down at the bucket and back at Goku with a look of decision. Then, with a shrug, he just reached into the bucket and pulled out a couple of they grey fish and tossed them onto the ground. Goku didn’t seem to mind the method of being given the fish as he quickly swiped them up and began happily devouring them. Sanzo swore he finished the entire first fish in mere seconds.

 

“Don’t eat so fast, you’re just going to make yourself sick,” Sanzo scolded. “It’s not like the food is going anywhere.”

 

Goku looked up at Sanzo in question with a fish tail sticking out of his mouth. Gojyo just laughed.

 

“Good luck getting through to him,” Gojyo snickered. “I’ll just give them to him a little at a time. That’s probably the most we can do.” Then he noticed Goku trying to reach to pull on the bottom of the bucket, and subsequently held it higher and even further out of the seal’s reach.

 

“No fair! I want more than that! Ya barely gave me any!” Goku pleaded.

 

“I’m going to, jeez! Quit whining,” Gojyo said, tossing another few to the floor. “There.”

 

While Goku and Gojyo were occupied, Sanzo gave Hakkai a look and the two made their way out of the room and down the hall. They reached a point where they figured they were far enough out of earshot. Sanzo leaned against the wall.

 

“Quite surprising, isn’t it?” Hakkai started. Sanzo just hummed briefly in agreement. “Where did you find him?”

 

“Just lying on the shore. Not far from that old dock that we use for barnacle samples.”

 

“Where do you think he came from? If anywhere, I would expect him to be miles further up the coast where we tend to see more seals…”

 

“I haven’t the slightest clue. Like I said, I haven’t bombarded him with questions. So far, _he’s_ been the one asking more questions, honestly,” Sanzo crossed his arms, in thought. “He’s strange though… I have a feeling that maybe he’s a weird case by ‘merfolk’ standards too. Though that’s just a theory. For all I know, all of these merfolk are weird seal-looking creatures with fish traits.”

 

“Fish traits? You mean his gills?” Hakkai asked.

 

“You noticed them too? Yeah, I find it weird that he looks unmistakably seal-like, but then he has gills and those weird webbed claws. They seem out of place.”

 

“I thought the same. But it’s not like we have any other information on these ‘merfolk’ to compare him too.”

 

“Yeah,” Sanzo agreed. “It’s just a weird feeling. Not to mention, back when I first found him, he responded strangely when I asked him what he was. He acted like I had said something offensive or something. He said he was a ‘different kind’ of merfolk. Whatever that means.”

 

“That certainly raises a lot of questions,” Hakkai pondered. “Plus, there’s the whole fact that he can speak too. I was quite shocked by that, honestly.”

 

“About that,” Sanzo sighed, “He did something weird when we first met. I don’t think he could speak before, but he grabbed me and then suddenly he was speaking. He said he did that so he could ‘understand’ me.” Sanzo looked down at his wrist. His pale skin was still tinted pink where Goku’s hand had grabbed him.

 

Hakkai furrowed his brows, looking concerned. “That only raises a lot more questions.”

 

-

 

When Sanzo and Hakkai returned to the bathroom, they were met with a lounging Gojyo absentmindedly petting a satisfied Goku –the latter of which was lying down with his eyes closed enjoying his full belly.

 

“It looks like somebody got attached pretty quickly,” Hakkai teased. Gojyo’s cheeks were tinted in a soft red as he was caught.

 

“Hardly! I was only doing this because he kept nagging me to,” Gojyo argued weakly. Goku just hummed with his smile still in place. Sanzo probably would have taken that as a confirmation of Gojyo’s excuse if the seal didn’t look like he was asleep and not paying any attention to the conversation at hand.

 

“Whatever, I don’t care either way,” Sanzo dismissed. “But what I do care about is getting some sleep. It’s getting late so you two need to go. You can come back tomorrow.”

 

Gojyo rolled his eyes, “Always so polite. You’re fucking welcome.”

 

“Thanks for coming over so late, Hakkai,” Sanzo said while deliberately eyeing Gojyo.

 

“Way to be an ass,” Gojyo retorted. Hakkai just laughed.

 

“Well, it’s not like it was a huge chore. Plus, it was fascinating and you even got to make a little friend,” Hakkai teased.

 

“Whose side are you on?” Gojyo said, exasperated. Then he just sighed before roughly ruffling Goku’s hair, “Whatever. See ya later, ‘Little Mermaid’.”

 

Goku scrunched his face before slowly blinking his eyes open. Then Gojyo’s words fully registered and he leaned upwards with his hands, “Wait, you guys are leavin’?”

 

“Afraid so,” Gojyo said, standing up. Goku pouted, falling down a bit so he was leaning on his elbows instead. “Don’t worry, Sanzo will give you the rest of the fish later.”

 

This wasn’t the answer he was looking for, as Goku leaned back flat against the floor with his chin resting on crossed arms.

 

“And,” Gojyo continued, knowingly, “We’ll be back again tomorrow. Right, Hakkai?”

 

Goku lifted himself up again, his smile back in place, and looked between Gojyo, Sanzo and Hakkai who nodded to confirm.

 

“We’ll be seeing each other again before you know it,” Hakkai smiled.

 

They all gave quick good-byes and Sanzo closed and locked the front door after they left. He returned to the bathroom and began to clean things up. He tried not to think about the worry that was nagging at him from the back of his mind. However, seeing Goku so sad at the thought of the other two leaving only strengthened this worry.

 

“Hey Sanzo,” Goku asked, his voice soft. Sanzo gave a quick ‘hm’ as indication to continue talking as he cleaned up. “Thank you. For bringin’ me here. And for takin’ care of me.”

 

Sanzo’s chest felt heavy again, the worry only strengthening its hold on him. But he wasn’t about to make Goku worry about that too. So he just settled with a positive-sounding “Mhm”.

 

After he had sorted everything and cleaned up, Sanzo added to the pile of towels in order to turn it into a makeshift bed –looking more like a nest of cloth- and then threw a couple pillows on top.

 

“There,” he said, once he was finished, “You can sleep here. I’ll bring the bucket of fish back in in the morning. And if you need anything else, just call me.” He placed his cordless home phone on the closed toilet seat. “Do you remember the phone I used to call those idiots before? This is the same thing. I put my phone,” he held up his cellphone for emphasis, “as a speed dial. That means that to call me, you just have to press this button and then this one right here, okay? And then you’ll be able to talk to me through this. Do you understand? This is only if you really need me though. If you call me just to tell me that you’re hungry, I’m gonna kick your ass, got it?”

 

Goku nodded, but Sanzo wasn’t entirely convinced. He made Goku repeat what he told him and give calling him a try. Thankfully, the merman seemed to be a fast learner.

 

“All right. I’m going to go to bed, but I’ll come by in the morning and bring you more food before I leave for work, okay? I have to give you your medicine too.”

 

“You’re leaving?” Goku asked, eyes wide with worry.

 

Sanzo sighed, but spoke without any harshness in his tone. “Yes, I have to go to work. I actually have to leave even earlier tomorrow because I need to pick up a sample from the beach that I was supposed to do today. But I’ll leave you food and water and I’ll be back around sunset.”

 

Goku still looked upset by this news, but nodded nonetheless.

 

“You’ll be fine. Just get some sleep and I’ll be back in the morning.”

 

-

 

Day 2

 

 

Sanzo woke up early the next morning and ate a quick breakfast before grabbing a couple water bottles and the bucket of fish sitting in the kitchen. He was going to have to get a cooler or something to store them in. He made his way to the bathroom that was now, or rather temporarily, Goku’s room. He knocked once before entering. Goku was curled up comfortably amongst the towels and pillows and was only beginning to show signs of waking up. Though Sanzo figured it might have been the smell of food rather than his knocking that woke him.

 

The seal blinked his eyes open and rolled onto his back lazily. He peered at Sanzo upside-down with a sleepy smile. “Hi, Sanzo.”

 

Sanzo snorted and made his way beside the seal, setting the bucket down next to him. He watched as Goku eyed the bucket of food and rolled back around on his stomach, eager to grab some. Sanzo put his arm out to stop him. “Not yet.”

 

Goku frowned, “Not the medicine…”

 

“Yes, the medicine.”

 

Sanzo reached and grabbed the bottle and the small plastic cup from the sink counter and poured the dose. Goku took it hesitantly and then began drinking it himself this time. It took him four sips –plus pauses to make disgusted expressions in between each- but he finished it and handed it back to Sanzo.

 

“Good. Now you can eat. Here,” he said before pushing the bucket in front of the merman. Goku looked up at Sanzo in question. The man figured he was probably surprised that he was given the entire thing. And frankly, Sanzo was wondering himself if maybe that was a mistake. “You can take what you want for yourself, _but_ ,” he emphasized, “this is your food for the entire time until Hakkai and Gojyo come back tonight. So, you can eat what you want, but you shouldn’t eat it all at once if you want to be able to eat later too.”

 

Goku looked between Sanzo and the bucket and then nodded. Sanzo hoped that he actually understood. Though at the very least, if he ate it all too fast, it would be a learning experience, he supposed. It would also be interesting to get a good handle of the merman’s intelligence. So far, he seemed fairly intelligent (the word used loosely, Sanzo wants to add), but other times his logic seemed flawed similar to the way an animal’s “logic” would be. He still wasn’t sure which side he seemed more like, so Sanzo decided to just keep him in his own third category.

 

“Do you have to go?” Goku asked with a sad expression.

 

“Yeah, I need to get going. But I’ll be back tonight. And if there’s anything _important_ that you need, you can call me, okay?”

 

Goku nodded and Sanzo closed the door behind him as he left the room.

 

-

 

Sanzo surely wouldn’t admit it to anyone else, but he worried about Goku during the day. He hoped that he was doing all right and also not doing anything stupid while he was gone. So when he arrived home and opened up his front door, he was relived to finally be back and able to check on the dumbass.

 

He barely even opened the door to the bathroom before he heard Goku happily shouting from inside.

 

“Sanzo! You’re back!” the merman exclaimed, full of excitement.

 

“Yeah,” Sanzo said. He was glad that he seemed fine, at least. He did a quick survey of the room. Goku was lying on his towel ‘nest’ and the bucket of fish was empty. He had given him a water bottle (that he opened for him) and then a second one as well, but noticed that, while the first had been emptied, the second was untouched.

 

Goku tilted his head in question and then followed Sanzo’s gaze to the bottles of water. “I couldn’t open it like you did…” he admitted.

 

‘That makes sense’, Sanzo thought. He mentally kicked himself for assuming the merman knew how to open it himself. “I should have shown you how to open it before I left. You have to twist it off, like this.” He picked up the unopened bottle and twisted the cap in demonstration. Then he handed it down to Goku. “You can try it for yourself next time and if you can’t get it, I’ll just give you a reusable one. You should be able to get that one open.”

 

Goku took the bottle and smiled, “Thank you, Sanzo.”

 

-

 

Hakkai and Gojyo came back that evening and brought quite a bit of things this time. Beyond the medicine and more fish that they had said they were going to bring, Hakkai also brought a notebook and some markers and Gojyo brought a stuffed seal that Sanzo recognized from the aquarium’s gift shop. Goku’s eyes practically sparkled at the sight of all of the new things –despite not having a clue as to what they were.

 

Goku accepted the stuffed seal and gently pet the soft material. “What is it?”

 

“It’s you,” Gojyo said, snickering.

 

Goku puffed his cheeks and shot a look at the man. “It’s not me!” he argued, slapping his tail on the ground with irritation.

 

“I don’t know… it looks like you to me,” Gojyo baited.

 

“This is a _seal_! I’m merfolk, stupid!”

 

“Well, I’m not familiar with you ‘merfolk’,” Gojyo continued, “So to me, you look like seal.”

 

Goku huffed and dramatically looked away from Gojyo, but his display wasn’t entirely convincing due to the fact that he still kept the stuffed toy cradled close to him in his arms.

 

“Speaking of merfolk, I was thinking -if you didn’t mind- maybe you could show us what some of the other merfolk look like,” Hakkai suggested. When Goku blinked up at him in confusion, the man took that as cue to explain further. “I mean, by drawing, that is. I can show you.”

 

Hakkai sat down on the floor beside Goku and laid the notebook flat. He then took one of the markers and drew a quick picture of Sanzo. The merman watched in awe and then pulled the notebook closer when the picture was done. He kept staring between the doodle and the real thing that still stood leaning against the doorframe.

 

“See? Like that. Do you wanna try?” Hakkai encouraged.

 

Goku nodded eagerly and his tail flapped with excitement. He took the marker and mimicked the way Hakkai held it. His excitement, however, gradually turned into frustration as he struggled to get it to look the way he wanted. His lines were jagged and wobbled around the page. His merfolk drawing looked abstract at best. “I can’t do it right,” he grumbled as he kept trying.

 

Hakkai laughed gently, “You’ll get the hang of it. This is only your first time, after all.” He paused before adding, “If you want, for now, you can describe them and I’ll do my best to draw it based on your description.”

 

Goku considered the idea and then slid the notebook and marker back to Hakkai in response.

 

“Th’ other merfolk look different from me…” Goku began, fidgeting with the stuffed toy as he avoided the humans’ eyes. “Their tails are thinner and shinier. They got lot’sa pretty scales. And they got a bunch’a fins,” Goku gestured to his ears and then the sides of his neck, his forearms and the sides of his waist. Then he hummed in thought, trying to remember more details. “Oh, and they got more teeth!” He opened his mouth to show his own teeth. His teeth were like those of a seal –sharp, with long canines. “They have more and they’re sharper an’ longer.”

 

“I see,” Hakkai said, jotting down notes to the side of his drawing.

 

“Jeesh, I was on board with meeting one of these babes until the teeth. Though, maybe we could still work it out,” Gojyo smirked.

 

When Goku looked confused, Sanzo just said, “Ignore him. He’s being an idiot.” Then he sat down beside Goku as well. “So do most merfolk look like the ones you described?”

 

“I don’t know about most, but the ones I know do. Nataku did… There are different kinds of merfolk, but these are the ones that I lived with.”

 

Sanzo wanted to ask why he was living with a bunch of merfolk that were different from him, but he figured he should ask one question at a time. “Do you not live with them anymore?”

 

Goku dropped his gaze back down to the floor, “No… After my friend Nataku…” he trailed off, swallowing hard and deciding against finishing his thought. “…I wanted to find more merfolk like me, but now I’m a long way from the nest and there are no merfolk at all out here. …Just sharks.”

 

Hakkai put the marker down and looked over at the merman with sympathy. “Are you lost? Are you having trouble making your way back?”

 

Goku just shrugged noncommittally, petting the stuffed toy once more. “I could probably make my way back, but I dunno… I don’t know where I should go.”

 

“Did they make you leave? The other merfolk you were with,” Gojyo asked, his voice suddenly serious.

 

Goku bit his lip, avoiding the man’s eyes. “No… I chose to leave. It was my decision…”

 

Gojyo narrowed his eyes at the seal, but let the issue drop.

 

-

 

Day 8

 

 

The days passed and, though Sanzo never would have guessed it at first, they all ended up falling into a routine of sorts. Sanzo would get up and have breakfast and then bring some fish in a bucket down to the bathroom. Goku would take his medicine and eat and Sanzo would leave for work. When he returned, he would check in with Goku and make himself some dinner. He would fill up the large bathtub and help Goku into it. It wasn’t a pool so he couldn’t really swim around, but he said that he liked being in the water so Sanzo made it a daily thing. Hakkai and Gojyo would come over for the evening. They would all talk and share information and stories about each other’s homes and lives. Gojyo would bring a couple buckets of fish every other day and the two would usually bring other random items –eager to share all kinds of things with the seal. And truthfully, Sanzo was grateful for it. Goku always seemed excited and enjoyed playing with these various items. Plus, it gave him something to play with during the day while Sanzo was at work. Each night, Sanzo would give Goku his nightly dose as well as his dinner and then once it got late, Hakkai and Gojyo would say their good-byes and leave.

 

It was simple and it wasn’t that it was bad, but…

 

There was the other issue. Sanzo had known this was going to be an issue from the first day, but just because he _knew_ didn’t do anything to change the fact that it was there.

 

Goku’s wound was healing incredibly well and he was almost done the necessary dosage of the antibiotics. Which meant that, unless something changed dramatically within the next few days, Goku would be leaving soon. 

 

Sanzo couldn’t deny that he had gotten attached. He’d deny it to Gojyo and Hakkai and, hell, even Goku himself. But he knew that it was true that he had. Hakkai and Gojyo had gotten attached as well, he could tell. And Goku…

 

Sanzo was worried that Goku getting attached to them was going to be the biggest problem. Despite their attachments, he was sure that the three of them would be able to say good-bye. Goku was the wild card. Sanzo worried that the seal wouldn’t _want_ to leave. And frankly, he couldn’t entirely blame him. From what he had gathered, saying that Goku’s life in the ocean wasn’t the greatest would be an understatement. He was living in fear of being eaten and he was alone. Gojyo came to the conclusion that these other merfolk had likely kicked Goku out and left him to fend for himself. And the man was furious. He kept suggesting that they consider alternatives to him going back to being on his own.

 

But as much as Sanzo found that upsetting as well, he couldn’t bring himself to consider any options other than sending him back into the sea. Goku wasn’t going to magically sprout legs and be able to live on land. He wasn’t made for land. So inviting him to stay would be inviting him to a life of living on the floor in a bathroom when he _could_ have the entire sea to swim in. He didn’t want to trap Goku or keep him as some bizarre pet. So that meant that he was going back, even if he didn’t want to, because that’s what’s best for him.

 

Right?

 

-

 

Day 9

 

 

Sanzo just got home from work and was getting the bathtub filled up when he figured now was as good of time as any. Goku was leaning against the side of the tub, eagerly watching it fill. Sanzo sighed.

 

“Tomorrow’s the last day of your medicine.”

 

He was glad that Goku seemed to pick up on the implications of his words, though it was a bit disheartening to see his excitement so quickly leave him. The seal dropped his head and swished his hand down in the water idly.

 

“Hey Sanzo-”

 

“You can’t stay here,” Sanzo interrupted. Goku looked up at him with a hurt expression, like he had just been slapped. The man tried to sound a little less harsh as he continued, “You belong in the ocean and I’m not going to take you away from that.”

 

“But I-”

 

“No. Goku, you can’t walk on land. Not to mention, you can’t let anyone see you or else chaos will break loose. Humans are going to go wild and try to take you and do who knows what. It’s not safe.”

 

“The ocean’s not safe either…”

 

Sanzo ran his hand through his hair, “Yes, but it’s different. I don’t want to see you stuck in a lab for the rest of your life.”

 

“I don’t know what that is.”

 

“It wouldn’t be good. Given your situation, you’d be lucky to be studied by humane scientists. It’s more likely that you would be put in some special facility.”

 

“But if I just stay here with-”

 

“You really want to spend the rest of your life living in a fucking bathtub?” Sanzo unintentionally began raising his voice.

 

Goku just stared, shocked into silence and looking heartbroken. Then he lowered his head before saying, “But I like you guys a lot… You’re my friends.”

 

“You can make new friends. Make friends who are like you.”

 

Goku abruptly looked up at Sanzo. He was trying to look angry, but his eyes were filled with tears. “But there _isn’t_ anyone like me! That’s the whole reason why I’m out here!” Immediately after he spoke, he deflated and dropped his head once more. He pushed the palms of his hands against his eyes, trying not to cry.

 

Sanzo let out a long sigh. He had predicted a response like this, but it was harder when he was actually next to the merman watching him cry -and knowing that _he_ was the reason for him crying. Sanzo sat down on the floor next to him and gently pet his head. He was never good at comforting people –neither with words or actions- but he hoped that maybe his attempt would be good for something. Goku slowly lifted his head to look at him, his eyes still shining with tears.

 

“Look,” Sanzo began, awkwardly, “I’m not trying to just cast you out like you’re a burden, if that’s what you are thinking. I’m just being logical and telling you the facts. And the facts are that you weren’t meant to live here –on land, with a bunch of asshole humans. Living here would mean taking a risk that something bad could happen to you and it’s possible that we wouldn’t have any power to stop it. It would mean that you would be extremely restricted in how you get around and do things and you’d be incredibly reliant on us for most things. It would mean instead of having the entire ocean to swim in, you’d rarely see beyond a single room. Is that really the life that you want?”

 

Goku was quiet for a few moments, just keeping his gaze on the ground, until he finally spoke in a small voice, “When I was in th’ ocean, there was lot’sa room to explore and it was nice but…” he trailed off for a moment, trying to find his words. “There was a world that looked like it went on forever, but somehow I was still alone. It made me feel small and made the ocean seem empty. But then I met you and I didn’t feel alone anymore. I don't have an ocean that goes on forever, but somehow my world feels so much bigger now.”

 

It was Sanzo’s turn to be quiet. He realized that while his reasons were built around logic, Goku’s were built around emotion. And neither of them seemed to really take into account the other side of the coin. He felt that Goku wasn’t considering many aspects that he should be considering –things that are incredibly important. But similarly, perhaps he wasn’t considering Goku’s own feelings on the issue. He was making a decision based on what he felt was (in terms of practicality) Goku’s best interest, but since Goku, himself, _wanted_ something other than the most logical outcome, maybe it was worth considering alternatives. Maybe there was some balance that wouldn’t be completely unreasonable.

 

“Maybe,” Sanzo began, causing Goku’s head to lift up immediately with a hopeful expression, “ _Maybe_ we can _consider_ possible alternatives. Know that I’m not agreeing to this. I’m just saying that we can _discuss_ it.”

 

But apparently, to Goku, that was enough cause for celebration. The seal leaned over and wrapped Sanzo in an awkward, seated hug. “Thank you, Sanzo!”

 

Sanzo sighed, but pat Goku’s back nonetheless. “All right, now get off me. Let’s just get you in the damn tub for now.”

 

-

 

Day 10

 

 

The three of them all sat on the floor of the bathroom while Goku lay in the bathtub with his head and arms leaning on the edge of the tub. Sanzo could hear the soft splash of Goku swishing his tail idly -or perhaps nervously.

 

“The aquarium takes in creatures that, due to various reasons, can’t effectively survive on their own in the ocean,” Hakkai began explaining. Noticing Gojyo about to interject, he quickly continued, “No, I’m not suggesting that we send him to the aquarium. The people working there are good people, but there’s no way he’d be able to stay there secretly for long. One way or another, people would find out –whether by accident or by a deliberate leakage of information. What I _am_ suggesting is that maybe that mindset is what we need to consider here.”

 

“So we need to figure out a way to give him a safe place to live that’s not the ocean but also not Sanzo’s bathtub?” Gojyo asked, leaning back.

 

“Are there bigger bathtubs?” Goku piped up.

 

“Yes, but they would still be too small for you to swim in. We’d have to get a whole bathhouse,” Sanzo replied.

 

“Or a pool,” Gojyo suggested.

 

“Or a pool.” Sanzo agreed, but then added, “But having a pool would mean being outside which is not going to help with our specific situation.”

 

“Unless you get an indoor pool,” Hakkai said.

 

“I’d have to find a house for sale that has an indoor pool. That’s not exactly going to be cheap. Not to mention that it would be huge for just two people –technically only one person using a ninety percent of the place,” Sanzo explained.

 

Hakkai hummed in thought, “Or we could all get a place together.”

 

Gojyo’s eyes went wide. “You’re telling me that you want the two of us to share a roof?” he asked, gesturing between him and Sanzo.

 

“What’s the problem? You guys are getting along fine right now,” Hakkai smiled.

 

“As long as he stays on his side of the house,” Sanzo declared.

 

“What’s this about ‘sides’!? I’m not about to be banished from parts of my own house!” Gojyo argued.

 

“I think everyone livin’ together would be fun!” Goku exclaimed happily, completely ignoring the beginnings of the argument between the other two.

 

Hakkai laughed, “Well, two of us are okay with the idea.”

 

“Dammit,” Gojyo said, “I mean, I guess wouldn’t mind as long as Sanzo doesn’t get to act like he owns the whole place.”

 

“I don’t need the whole place. I just need a break from seeing your face every now and then.”

 

“You’re not exactly always pleasant company either, you know.”

 

“So if we figure out a way to make a house between all of us work, would this be an idea we should try?” Hakkai smiled, breaking up the fight.

 

“Fine, yeah, I guess so,” Gojyo said.

 

Then everyone turned to face Sanzo, waiting for his answer. Goku looked at him with soft, hopeful eyes.

 

“Yeah, we can try it,” he finally said. Goku nearly lifted himself out of the tub in excitement. But after failing to pull his body over the edge of the bathtub, he settled for just flapping his tail enthusiastically –splashing water around in the process. “Stop making a mess,” Sanzo scolded.

 

Goku just laughed, his smile as big as ever. “Sorry, I’m just really happy!”

 

-

 

The Days Onward

 

 

The house they ended up getting was fairly large –bigger at least than Sanzo ever would have gotten for himself. So it was good that it wasn’t just for himself.

 

They divided the house up a bit between the four of them. Sanzo would definitely want some time to himself and he also did not want to be sleeping in a bedroom next door to them. Knowing when they were having sex was not on his list of things he wanted to know. And Hakkai and Gojyo surely wanted privacy for their own reasons too, so it was a unanimous decision to divide the place up within reason. There were shared spaces too, of course -the kitchen being one of them. And then there was Goku’s portion of the house.

 

The room with the pool was fairly large, which was the goal. It was an entirely indoor pool and it was laid out as an extension of the house. So there weren’t any rooms above, but rather a large window for the sun to shine in. There were originally small windows on the back wall too, but Gojyo got them filled in. The last thing that they needed was for someone to walk by and see a mermaid swimming about.

 

They weren’t far from the (small, usually unoccupied) beach so it was a nice location and they were able to fill the pool with salt water rather than chlorine-filled pool water. Which also enabled them to be able to bring in live fish to keep in the pool. Goku was ecstatic when they first surprised him with a cooler full of live fish. He enjoys getting to swim around and hunt them down. 

 

Once they even all went on a “fishing trip”. The four of them went out on Gojyo’s boat for the afternoon. They had to carefully sneak Goku out of the house and get him onto the boat, but they managed. Then once they were out on the ocean, in a stationary spot far away from anyone else, Goku dove off the edge of the boat and swam around. Gojyo used a large net to collect a haul of fish, but while watching the display underwater, Goku managed to get himself caught in the net as well. Gojyo was left in disbelief of how he even managed that.

 

Things weren’t perfect; it’s a bit of work to keep everything maintained and Sanzo will always still worry about the possibility of something happening –of someone finding out about Goku. But, all things considered, they were making things work.

 

The four of them, as a group, became closer than Sanzo ever thought. He often groans about it, but, truthfully, he likes their company (most of the time). They also make sure that Goku knows that he’s not trapped there and he has the option to leave if he ever chooses to. Though the seal shows no signs of feeling trapped considering how he claims that this is the happiest that he’s ever been.

 

Sometimes Goku sleeps underwater on the bottom of the pool and other times he sleeps in his “nest” (an old mattress that was covered with blankets, towels and his growing collection of stuffed toys) that is kept a few yards away from the pool’s edge. Sometimes Hakkai teaches him how to read or how to draw; sometimes (i.e. constantly) Gojyo bickers with him and occasionally goes swimming in the pool with him; and sometimes Sanzo sits by the pool with a book and just appreciates the merman’s company. Goku could definitely be loud and full of energy, but Sanzo appreciated that he could also be quiet and just happily swim around or even just relax lying down somewhere. Sanzo has no plans to tell him directly, but he, himself, knows that Goku never fails to add life to his day.

 

-

 

“ _Sanzo,_ come onnnn,” Goku whined.

 

“No, that’s my final answer.” Sanzo said bluntly. He peeked over top of his book at Goku. The merman had his arms up on the edge of the pool and he was trying his best pout. “That doesn’t work. My answer is still no.”

 

Goku dove underwater (purposely making a larger splash than necessary) and then popped back up with his pout back in place.

 

“Still no.” Sanzo didn’t even bother to look up from his book this time. He smirked to himself when he heard the boy grumble before diving back underwater again.

 

“Are you teasing him again?” Hakkai asked as he entered the room, with Gojyo following right behind him.

 

“No, he’s just sulking because he wants me to go swimming with him today.”

 

Hakkai laughed, “That sounds about right.”

 

Gojyo leaned by the edge of the pool, splashing water around with his hand to get the merman’s attention. “Hey, mermaid-boy, get up here. I brought food.”

 

Immediately, Goku’s head popped out of the water. “Food?”

 

“Why does that always get your attention so quickly? You have a one-track mind, I swear.”

 

“I can’t help it if I’m hungry.”

 

“You’re always hungry.”

 

Goku shrugged, unable to argue that, and then dove back into the water. He re-emerged by the edge next to where Gojyo was standing. “I thought you and Hakkai had a dinner tonight?”

 

“We did. We just got back. Here,” Gojyo crouched down and opened up a Styrofoam take-out container. Inside was a handful of shrimp. “Because I’m a kind and incredibly selfless individual, I ordered extra shrimp to bring back for you. Figured it might be something you’d like. You’re welcome.”

 

Goku’s eyes sparkled with delight as he reached up and took one in his hand. “I can have it? Really?”

 

“Yup. I mean, it’s cooked so it might not taste like you’re used to, but I figured it’d be safe for you to eat at least.”

 

“Thank you!” Goku smiled, throwing the whole piece in his mouth. He hummed in contentment as he ate it. “It’s so good, it’s really good!” He then quickly reached his arm out to grab more.

 

“Jeez, settle down. They’re not going anywhere,” Gojyo scolded, but extended the box out closer to the merman nonetheless.

 

Sanzo snorted as he watched the scene that was taking place. Hakkai just smiled knowingly beside him. He was pretty sure Hakkai could tell what he was thinking, but at least he had the decency (usually) to keep that knowledge to himself.

 

Yeah, things weren’t perfect. But, all in all, he supposed that things were all right.

 

-

 


End file.
